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BS: De-cluttering - part two
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 10 May 08 - 05:57 PM I sorted through 4-5 boxes of books from my sister's Major Storage Clean Out and have started on the LPs. I only have one box of books for keeps, most of which belonged to one or the other of my grandfathers. Still more to go, but we ran errands this afternoon, just got home, so I'll save them for tomorrow, most likely, unless I get a second wind this evening. Finally bought a water filter so we can quit buying water in bottles and get the recycling clutter of that out of the kitchen. I hate to say it but we did a small bit of what Bush wanted us to...we spent a little bit of the Chinese loan money. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: wysiwyg Date: 10 May 08 - 02:00 PM Very funny. DVD's on dry land, because the portable DVD player is so hard to hear poolside when I put it into the Ziploc bag. :~) We review the video and then use the poolside player for reference, minus sound. Then too, people know what they're signing up for. But seriously, I did see a house shown once on TV that was totally hose-cleanable. Trouble is, the drain wasn't big enough for the crap I'd want to be able to flush! ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 May 08 - 12:41 PM If I whip that counter, I can have my aquatic seminars RIGHT HERE at my house, with sales available . . . So what's your trick? Do you fill your house up like a pool to use for aquatic seminars? That's a heckuva way to keep things clean! ;-D On Thursday I took a dozen partial cans of old paint to the environmental hazard dump station, clearing space on my pantry shelves. All week I've continued to compress file folders as I move them from the closet cabinet to the other cabinets around the house. Yesterday I picked up a couple of plastic magazine file boxes and milk crate file boxes at the recycle/dump site, out of the bin. It really is appalling the stuff that Americans throw away out if ignorance and laziness. Most of the stuff in the trash bins should have been given to a thrift store or at least put in the recycle bins. Yes, this is picking up clutter, but the point is, if I don't need these I can put these at my curb and someone who does need them will pick them up to use them. My windfall from the escrow account will allow me to pick up parts for a couple of things that need attention, and I make a point of always doing more than one errand on a trip, so I'll probably drop more paper off at the recycle center. But this time I'll put my shredded paper in a box. That way I can drop it in the recycle bin. Yesterday I dropped a bag of shreds in the trash because I couldn't see them making much sense of paper shreds on the sorting conveyor belt. Andrea, congratulations on not bringing any new stuff home. I was at the used book store to pick up one book last week but left with three. "My name is Maggie and I'm a bookaholic." Liz, I need to put up some shelves for my son. Maybe this list will serve as a reminder. I cleaned out his room big-time over the holiday season, and he hasn't added that much stuff, but he doesn't seem to have enough places to put things. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: wysiwyg Date: 10 May 08 - 11:56 AM Duh..... Izzit like this for you? Whole house making me crazy, despite pockets of well-organized items that are maintaining quite well...feeling overwhelmed but not sure why.... brain spinning with can't-gotta-can't-gotta DO something about it..... not even sure what "it" is..... Well, for me it's like tumblers in a combination lock. Not until they settle into the right combination of mini-solutions does that spinning quit. I just felt it QUIT. [big sigh] There is ONE key area I had not thought about AT ALL even though I know all the organizing theory I could need. Suddenly the thought popped into my head-- what about a better "landing pad" for the daily return from the POOL? Near the back door, the laundry machines, wall outlets to re-charge digital gear....... and I HAVE exactly that area. All I need to do is clear it the f**k OFF! I can DO that! Most of what is on it, now that I think of it, is actually stuff that by now has other places waiting to receive it. When I satrt, all the stuff to clear from there will cause all the other tumblers to move as Thing A goes to Place 2 where Thing B will be sitting that belongs in Place 3, etc. etc., and I will no longer be Queen of the State of Overwhelm. Duhh................ See the thing is, I LIKE my life-- I like its three or four very different, major-day-occupying areas of activity. Each area has had a central place in my house. But the aquatic one.... present, but not working as well, so spreading all over everything else. Roughly: mornings are for keeping promises the way Rick taught me to do it-- work that involves the computer and printer, correspondence..... punctuated by nutritious mini-meals that prep me for the afternoon "job." And that job is aquatic, taking all afternoon most weekdays. Evenings, hockey time with Hardi or parish activities. All this punctuated (notnotnot "interrupted") by Diocesan activities. (Where are friends, you may ask-- they're in all of those. I'm talking just the practical actions here.) So all I have to do is reclaim that large counter across from the laundry machines that tops a pair of wide kitchen cabinets, with more cabinets above. It's adjoined on one end by the home-classroom I converted to my treadmill studio and summer small-group meeting space. On the other end, the kitchen (with well-organized hutch holding electronic aquatic gear for "garage sale") and bath I can clean up for company and still keep the main house private for Just Us. If I whip that counter, I can have my aquatic seminars RIGHT HERE at my house, with sales available amid healthy workout snacks set out on the counter that used to hold Mudcat Gathering snacks. Duh................................. ~Susan PS, duh..... |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 10 May 08 - 11:34 AM Back from the boot fair and the dump. Have only come home with one or two bits that I had alternative offloads for. AND I DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING ELSE TODAY, EITHER! I now have a hall that works as a hall - at least until Tuesday, when Ruth gets back! As soon as I get the front bedroom sorted out for Ruth I will have places for a lot of stuff in her old furniture. However, still no word from the "Sparks". Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 10 May 08 - 04:45 AM I still haven't put up that shelf for Limpit though! LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Lin in Kansas Date: 10 May 08 - 12:57 AM WOW, SRS! See how good intentions are often rewarded? Yay for your great find! LTS, Way to go on the choir book--just think of all those pieces of paper you won't have to deal with any more. That's one of my goals, to get my Family Scrapbook put together in some sort of order, so I don't have a zillion pieces of paper all over the place. Not only do I have MY research stuff, but I have a copy of most of my cousin's also, which I have yet to try to sort... JunK has been scanning and shredding stuff the last few days. I don't ask, I just appreciate. Any paper that goes away is fantastic, in my opinion. His son and daughter-in-law bought him a new shredder for his birthday, so he's been having fun cross-cutting old CDs and bills and things. I gave a big sack of old clothing to the DAV yesterday (they pick up from your front porch every month or so). Never seems to make much of a dent in my closet stash, but I keep trying. Still need to get rid of stacks of magazines; will have to truck them to the grocery store recycle bins. I've come to the conclusion that I could get rid of a LOT more "stuff" if I didn't feel guilty about not recycling it. Wichita doesn't have much of a recycling program, unfortunately, so everything has to be boxed up, carried to the truck, taken to the disposal sites, and unloaded there. Some days just the thought wears me out. And it's a half-day project to get anything to the post awful to mail it! Yes, I know, bitch, bitch, bitch...I'm trying to get more positive about all this. You guys help, big-time! Lin |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 May 08 - 01:57 PM I put a new roof on the house last fall. I had my mortgage lowered this year due to lower homeowner's insurance costs, but I didn't realize that they mailed me an excess escrow check that is the equivalent of a whole month's payment! I always just stuff the postal statement in a file because I pay it online. I'd opened it and glanced in at the amount due but didn't pull it out to find the check on the bottom--until today. I'm going through my files, and there it was! It was written five weeks ago and is good for 180 days. I'm headed out to the bank. May all of our declutterers have such a good find! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 May 08 - 01:02 PM That's scary--climbing over the top of it all--I'm afraid someone will post to Mudcat with one of your accounts to tell us the sad news that after you apparently went missing some unfortunate family member found you, impaled, on a four poster bed post in the spare bedroom junk pile. I don't have a lot in my attic because this house is built with trusses, not joists. It can't support a floor up there. I have a few plywood paths through the attic so I can move around from a central area to reach wires and vents for general maintenance. This summer I will put a few more boards around to make it easier to climb over duct work. My garage is built with joists, so there is some space but not much headroom. There were flattened boxes that Moonglow took to use for a college project, and I have no plans to refill it. I am still working my way through the old files, they don't look too full, but when opened, there are documents or bills from several years back. I've filled the pickle bucket twice more and have also found duplicate files to combine. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Diva Date: 09 May 08 - 05:35 AM Few more bags to charity shop and janes old knackered bed went to the dump yesterday.........loads of space in her room now..of course she'll need a bed when she gets back from Inverness tonight..... |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 09 May 08 - 04:41 AM Ah, junk climbing... I remember it well. I thought that was over when we got a house with a cellar and a loft.... guess what I have to do if I want anything out of the loft... and the gymnastics the poor Gasman has to do to get to read the meter - well, he could book his place in the 2012 team right now! I'm working on the removal of several hundred bits of paper now... the choir song book is finally done (apart from printing a few covers) and I'm binding it now, so that's a job done and out of the house next week! Then there are those waistcoats... LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 09 May 08 - 04:36 AM Freda - I know the feeling. I've bags of stuff going out tomorrow, but it doesn't seem to have made a dent! Hopefully I can enlist Ruth's help after she's back, and after I get back from the other side of the world! It doesn't help when the contents of one bedroom have been dumped into a much smaller one, which was full of crap anyway. I just wish the electrician would get in touch so that I can get the wiring done, then I can get it decorated....etc SRS - my tables still aren't very visible yet, although I have enough room now to sit at the kitchen one! My sewing machine is at the back of the bedroom that's full of clutter. I have actually found that the stuff is piled up so that it is climbable if I need to get down there! Does mean doing something approaching the splits, but hey, I need the workout! Andrea - who is about to start and load the car for tomorrow. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 May 08 - 08:28 PM freda, that is another goal of mine. To have enough clutter and stuff out of the way so I can roll my portable sewing table into the room with the television and sew again. I haven't done it in ages. Okay, okay, the last time I tried it I was having to pay a lot of attention to the garment and I was nominally "watching" Moulin Rouge, the new one with Nicole Kidman. It makes no sense if you aren't looking at it every moment of the film. After more shredding I fine-tuned some of the files this afternoon, pulling out some of the slim ones and finding stuff I don't need. I'm to a point of reordering the drawers and moving in files from the other rooms. The surface area of the dining room table is a little more visible this evening. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: freda underhill Date: 08 May 08 - 03:17 AM aaaaggghh. as quickly as I remove things from my lounge room (re-emerging after renovations) strange things seem to accumulate and pile up. Is there some cosmic wave of clutter which is breathing in and out of my life? tonight..... I shall remove some more, and then sit and recover by sewing in front of the TV.. freda |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 May 08 - 12:17 AM I have a lot of dish towels from my great aunt's home, older cotton and linen and even some flour sack towels. I use them all of the time, though a few have finally worn out and went in the rag bag. Every time I pick one up I remember the old fashioned kitchen in Connecticut where I found them. (She lived in the little town next to the town where Mudcatter Jerry Rasmussen lives.) I also have a favorite walnut (or some equally heavy dark wood) rolling pin and her big cast iron skillet with a fitted lid. "That's for frying chicken," my friend Emma told me when she saw it. "You need to keep that!" I did, and I use it regularly. I make fried rice in it and other stir fry more often than I fry chicken, though. :) Shredded and filed some more. Amazing what you find tucked away when it was dropped in a box and forgotten for a while. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 07 May 08 - 11:38 PM Thanks, Maggie. I will have to keep mom's bottles for some time, I think. I've missed them and really love them. The 78s will stay in the family and, I hope to get them transferred to my hard drive. Some of the bottles will probably get sent to my daughter back East, my nieces and nephew, maybe, and go to my son and daughter who live here. I agree with you about getting the nice things out and using them. What's the sense in just tucking them away for the next generation to tuck them away?! I have a set of kitchen towels my grandmother made for my dad's cousin. She gave them to me, nice and neat as the day she received them on her wedding day over 50 years ago. They'd never been used. They have the days of the week and whatever household chore was supposed to happen on that day, embroidered on them. I am thinking of having them framed in a row and put them on my kitchen wall. The books I can let go much easier and will definitely sell a bunch of them, as well as give some away. There are not that many that I will keep, mostly old ones which were my grandparents', both sides. Of course, I say this without having looked through them so my story may change.:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 May 08 - 07:21 PM Paper really is at the heart of my problems here, so I worked on getting into more of the files and paper baggage late this afternoon. I just shredded a bunch of really old job stuff I forgot was there. In the shorthand of my shredding system, I emptied the pickle bucket three times so far. NOW I need to label a few folders of files I'm keeping and recycle a lot of the old ratty folders. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 May 08 - 12:58 AM Don Aslett would advise you to take a look at the stuff, maybe pick a few small pieces with special meaning, take nice photos of the rest for a scrap book or other photo display, then find a way to move them along to their next owners. He didn't say it is easy. You'll have to take a look, but keep in mind that these objects aren't substitutes for your sister or your Mom. (And remember that Martha Stewart exhibit with the tray and the bottles? Who knew you'd be coming into a whole bunch! Make up a bunch of displays and sell them somewhere!) Here at my house I'm looking at files that aren't stuffed as full now and bookshelves that aren't packed so tightly. I see a few places where I could set objects on display and they won't be surrounded by clutter. The effort is paying off, but it does take time. For some reason lots of mail has started arriving for "occupant" or names the family that moved out of this house when it was a rental eight years ago. Pottery Barn has some pretty settings, and some of their stuff that looks line my furniture is turning up on their pages. I've torn those pages out of the catalog and recycled the rest. Keeping in mind what Aslett says about using the stuff you keep, I have been pulling out some of the things that were somehow "too good to use." What's the point in having them if you're not using them? So I'm trying to use what I have here. I put a lovely quilt out on my bed that I had tucked away. It was made by an old friend and sent for my birthday a few years ago. I'm going to get some pillows (I probably have fabric, so I'll get just the Dacron inserts) to put on the bed that pick up the accents in the quilt. Yes! It's about time! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 07 May 08 - 12:20 AM Oh boy, I have my work cut out for me. One day with my sis at her storage unit and my dining room floor and part of my living room are full of boxes. All of the heavy stuff she didn't want to take to Alaska, which means a lot of books, 78s and our mom's extensive collection of antique glass bottles. Alice, she has a lot of hardbacks of John Grisham and other best-selling authors. I think I'll pull some of those out and send them to that library. We loaded my car to the gills, twice. I ran to my daughter's house on her lunch hour so she could unload yard sale stuff. The second load her partner came over and unloaded for me at my house. He's a trooper! Tomorrow, we do more of the same and Rog and I have to bring in the stuff he unloaded onto the driveway from his truck. Big stuff, some to sell, some to keep. We are all knackered! |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 May 08 - 04:06 PM Still no one at Goodwill this morning after dropping my son at school. My back seat is filling up, I added a bag of toys. As mentioned above, I need to rearrange the files that I want to keep to accommodate the things that will be moved from the file cabinet I want to get rid of. I shredded about an inch of old bank statements (2003 and earlier--I try to keep at least 5 years, though at this point the banks have seven years worth online as PDF forms). This cabinet might possibly have a useful life in the garage--I have lots of things on open shelves out there that really ought to be a little better organized and protected. Before tossing big stuff I do try to re-purpose it. (I have a door propped against the wall out in the garage, it is the one replaced after the burglary 3 years ago. I occasionally set up saw horses and lay this door on them when I need a big work surface. Very handy and out of the way when not needed and the cosmetic dent doesn't affect how it works.) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 06 May 08 - 03:54 PM I fully intend to stick prices on everything - not that there's anything of great value! I have a kitchen table and a dining room table that haven't had their tops seen for a while! Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 06 May 08 - 07:32 AM I excavated my bedside table today.... threw away all the rubbish, recycled all the papers.... still can't see the wretched thing. I'm beginning to think someone is trying to tell me something. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Alice Date: 05 May 08 - 11:30 PM Went through books and found about 2 boxes full so far to send to the Colorado City library project. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 May 08 - 11:04 PM House elves to make stuff go away--what a splendid idea! I had some "Mom's Taxi" driving today, so I boxed up a few games and puzzles that could go to Goodwill then tried to drop them off on one of those trips. The attendant was gone, so I'll leave it tomorrow. There are more games and puzzles in the garage, so I spent time this evening thinning the contents of the garage Rubbermaid storage tubs. There is now a bag of soft toys to take to the thrift store (the one that recycles fiber, so if they don't want to sell the toys they can turn them into paper). I tossed a bunch of paper and cardboard in the recycle bin, and in the end emptied the largest of the tubs. I have close to a dozen paint cans in the back of the pickup, ready to take to the hazardous waste drop-off station on Thursday when they're next open for business. They also take garden chemicals, lightbulbs and batteries, among many other things. I'll have some of all of that for them. These cans in particular occupied a lot of space on the bottom shelf of a wire rack I use as a rolling pantry. Good riddance! I have a bunch of furniture to rearrange, and in some cases there is stuff on top of it. I think before I try moving the furniture I need better control of the evolving filing system, because that is a lot of what is on the top of things. Paper. It always seems to come back to paper! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: wysiwyg Date: 05 May 08 - 01:18 PM Psssst! Half the battle is putting prices on things! :~) I expect to take a carload of stuff out into the "someone else needs this" stream later this week and carry back home a little lovely, easily-stored cash in its place. Also the very few items for the camper that were picked up on sale over the winter will get stowed out there IN the camper when we open it tomorrow for the Annual Spring Open to see if any rodentia's been squatting for a takeover, in which case the first thing to carry out will be the hunting party's litter box. :~) (The fleeing rodentia will find handy alternate housing right next door in the vacant barn.) ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 05 May 08 - 12:46 PM Just got back from an overnight stay in Northumberland (and a visit to the Sage in Gateshead for the Toumani Diabate concert). My friend's husband has been and carted away the old tacky shelf unit that was stacked up in the dining room. Now all I got to do is price up all the stuff that's stacked up in the hall for when I take it to the boot fair in York on Saturday. That will leave the hall empty enough for Ruth to empty part of the contents of her life into next Tuesday! Anything I don't sell will be left at the tip on the way back. Have just spent an hour trying to rationalise the pots and planters on the yard. There's not a lot of Ian's stuff left in the house - it's all my crap! I went and bought 2 more pieces of pottery on saturday - a staffordshire figure of a grandmother helping her granddaughter to read (very topical) and a Bunnikins Morris Dancer (well, I couldn't let THAT go....) Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 05 May 08 - 11:55 AM That's great, SRS. I don't think my sister will have much of a problem at whittling her stuff down. She's less sentimental than I, plus she's only got the two days to go through it all, AND has to consider the costs of having the movers bring it all up to Alaska. I will certainly help her with it, though. I'm looking forward to that, but mostly to just seeing her.:-) Thanks. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 May 08 - 01:38 AM With your de-cluttering momentum going, Kat, maybe you can help your sister discard or donate lots of stuff and keep what she takes to Alaska down to the truly important stuff. I worked mostly in the yard today. The last of the fence planks are at the curb for morning trash pickup, and I got rid of a glass door that used to be outside my front door. I taped the frame to the door (it's all aluminum) and put a note "free" on it. It was gone in under an hour, and the guys who stopped asked if it was okay. I pointed at my new security door that had replaced it, so he would understand that it had was fine, just no longer needed. It is interesting--a lot of this free and garage sale stuff is taken to family members in Mexico. I advertised "leftover stuff from remodeling" for a garage sale several years ago and the Mexican family that bought all of the barely used ceiling fans said this was part of what they were taking these to Mexico to the family. (I had replaced them with some less inexpensive Hunter fans.) At that same sale I had a corner for "free to a good home" for all of the harvest gold and avocado green stuff that had come out of my 1976 house. Amazing how fast that went--what goes around does come around! A gay couple building a retro house in the country got most of it. I'd love to see it when they finish!) Guess I'd better save most of today's activities for the gardening thread. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 04 May 08 - 08:22 PM I got the last of the tall shutters painted today. Only four shorter ones to go! (Three layers of paint, each, with one set of saw-horse to dry them on, or I'd do them a lot faster!) I also got out the art paper I'd bought last Sept., measured and cut it to fit the glass panes in the bottom halves of our bedroom windows and glued it on. It helps to cut down the bright light in the mornings and also adds more privacy. It doesn't really matter except on the north side. That window looks across our yard to the neighbour's driveway and the pampas grass we planted outside that window last year has not grown tall enough to provide privacy. It's heavy, hand-made paper with flocks of leaves, ferns and real flowers in it. And the colours I picked out really compliment our inside decor. Felt good to finally do that! Rog tackled some more of the old dead weeds in the backyard, raking some of them up and he got the irrigation water hose dragged around back and watered his grape vines and the willow tree. All of those things have been needing to be done for ages. We also took the car to car wash and MUCKED it out. There was all kinds of trash, dog hair, kid toys and giveaway stuff in there, as well as three lawn chairs! Felt really good to get that done, too. Now, maybe we'll do some inside stuff. My sister is coming tomorrow, though. Tues. and Wed. will be spent at her storage space helping her go through everything to decide what she wants to keep and move to Alaska and what goes. Should be quite interesting as she is a powerhouse when she gets going on a project and has a timeline. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: LilyFestre Date: 04 May 08 - 01:37 PM I cleaned out my dressers this morning. I've been losing weight and have too many different sizes of things that just don't fit as they should, so I cleaned out each drawer, tossed the unmentionables in the trash and bagged up things that someone else could use. I moved my winter clothes to another section of the closet and noticed how few spring things I have for work. *Shrug* I'll make do with what I have. It feels great to get that stuff out of the way!!! Michelle |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 May 08 - 12:47 PM Rock Chick, welcome to our reducing club! Empty the boxes, recycle or sell what you can, dump or donate the rest, flatten the boxes and recycle them. Easy, right? (Tongue inserted deeply into side of cheek.) Good luck! This morning I took a look at a couple of dozen paint cans from working on the house six years ago. If there is much in them, they'll go to the city paint collection site to be blended to paint over graffiti. If there is a little I'll pour out the paint on a cardboard flat to dry, let the can dry, then toss it in the recycle bin. Paint isn't supposed to freeze so I've kept it in the house, not the garage, but I need to reduce the amount. I'm more likely to repaint the entire room something else than retouch, so I wonder at keeping any of it. Also--I went through my earrings. Pulled out those I never wear for donation. Single ones I liked are all in one place. If the mate turns up, maybe they will be reunited. Tossed old backer cards. Emptied out one wooden box on my dressing room counter top. This afternoon I will set up my barbecue grill--I have the Mother-lode of paper files to get rid of and I'd be all day at the shredder. I'll set these up between the grill wires and let them burn down at their own pace, with the cover on to prevent embers. One thing about having worked for the Forest Service for several years, I'm really good at burning stuff safely! I am to empty that big file. Oh, and the last of my old fence goes to the curb today for tomorrow's trash, and I'll prop a good (but not needed) glass screen-type door there and put a "free" sign on it. And I'll tape the hardware to the door. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: GUEST,rock chick Date: 04 May 08 - 07:52 AM Just about too enter the black hole of Calcutta, the spare room needs to be spare again!! But where do all the musical instrument go, and ALL the boxes? ;^/ |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: maeve Date: 04 May 08 - 06:30 AM From baby steps grow giant steps, Lin. Good for you! |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Lin in Kansas Date: 04 May 08 - 04:55 AM Finished my sister-in-law's lap quilt (finally) while watching two of my favorite movies: Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Now I can watch Return of the King tomorrow with no distractions, as a reward for being industrious two nights in a row, right? Am also working on proofing another book, so haven't done diddly on rearranging my desk or sorting things in the crafting room. But I know those projects are "hovering," just waiting for me to get back to them. I did get a bunch of clean clothes folded and put away yesterday, and have done a bunch of research on the web about an interesting subject or two I have need of information for. Sigh. No large progress, but a couple of baby steps, I guess. Lin |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 May 08 - 11:59 AM I have a daughter in college who has a bunch of stuff in a room here that remains closed most of the time--we forget about that space. But I do want it as a guest room so it will come under the declutter scruitiny when I finish the rest of the house. This will allow a couple of things--no recriminations about making her clear up in there without having done it myself, and we'll do it when she can spend a couple of days here and have a good visit. My neck is stiff today--I spent a lot of time hunched over the shredder, I think that's it, but I also had to work on my line trimmer yesterday so may have overworked something with all of the starts (I need to tune it up, it's not running well right now.) This morning is bright and clear but chilly, so I'm finishing some moving around of stuff then heading out to the yard. I can't resisit gardening in this weather, so I'll find something to declutter out there. And despite my good work (on the last thread) since I last found the spark plug wrench for my tiller I have a new place where it needs to live but I've misplaced the wrench. I have a couple of possibilities from when I first found it, so I'll start there. A big end goal is to have everything in logical places so I just go get what I need before doing a task, not waste time looking for a part, or avoid a job because I can't find what I need. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Alice Date: 03 May 08 - 11:30 AM My son is moving to is own apartment this week, so it is time for the big heave-ho of all the stuff he will turn loose. It is hard to imagine that he was in about the first grade when I joined mudcat! |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 May 08 - 03:46 AM It's late on Friday night (early Saturday morning) and I've made a lot of progress. With nothing but a bottle of wine, a romantic movie (You've Got Mail--I do like Nora Ephron!) and a paper shredder I've completely emptied one file drawer in my office closet. It filled three and a half mid-sized kitchen garbage bags with old bank statements, 20-year-old tax returns, and paperwork to do with three vehicles back. Who knew that was in there? I never looked. I also moved some empty shelves out of that closet. I'm not sure how I'll re-purpose the space, I have an idea, but I'll wait to see how much paper I can evict. If I can empty three more drawers I might even get rid of a four-drawer file cabinet. SRS (who will probably sleep late tomorrow!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Alice Date: 02 May 08 - 10:34 PM Tomorrow is my big "start on the basement" day. It's great to have a group to report to here! The library is downstairs next to the laundry room, and there are two bedrooms that need digging out down there. One has been filled as a storage room. I have books I used when I home schooled my son for 7th and 8th grades, and lots of hardbound novels and classics I can pass on to the library. This project has given me a good incentive to clean out books and ship them to a community that really needs them. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 May 08 - 10:13 PM I made the rounds this evening, mailed a book, dropped off puzzles and kids' toys, took books to Half Price (as I thought, the computer books are too old to be of interest and the dictionary is not up to date.) They were interested in only a couple of books and the cash offered covered the cost of a sandwich for dinner. I think this is a good evening to go through the house and organize the cupboards and closets I've emptied out. What now goes in those spaces? SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Alice Date: 02 May 08 - 03:46 PM If you are clearing out books (as I will be, purging my library this weekend) please consider donating them to the effort to start a public library in Colorado City, AZ. This town has had books banned by the religious leader, and now that he is in prison, a group has formed a non profit Friends of the Library. A building has been donated and now they need hardbound books. Any kind - novels, science, history, textbooks, current reference books (encyclopedias that are not out of date, etc.) children's books, novels, classics, books on CD or tape, documentary films. They need every kind of book you would find in a public library. Here is the thread about it and here is the mailing address to send boxes of books or mail cash donations. Thread click here Here's the address for donations: Colorado City Public Library C/O Stefanie Colgrove PO Box 1935 Colorado City, AZ 86021 |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 May 08 - 03:36 PM The charitable donations for April are cataloged and printed and filed. Now I'm bagging up more donation items of many types, aiming at once again clearing off that corner love seat. This morning I culled a bunch of older computer books--I'll let Half Price Books decide if they're still new enough to sell. I'm going to mail one of these to a friend who was asking about computer clip art earlier this week. And I have updated the dictionaries in the house and am taking the oldest to Half Price. It's a gorgeous day out. Maybe I need to go do some digging and accomplish a little yard clearance. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 May 08 - 11:52 PM When I encounter this kind of stressed-out feeling I make myself a big list, broken down into chores I can do today and things I may have to perform several steps to complete. I list the steps so I can cross them off. Sometimes I'll start the summer with a list of things on the fridge that I'd like to accomplish. I think it is time to generate such a list. This is separate from the list I often carry folded in a pocket, including my shopping list and a few chores to try to remember to do. I'm taking tomorrow off and along with some personal things to take care of I plan to do some more clearing. Tonight I'll finish the write-ups from all of those donations in April so I can make fresh start on May. Part of this clearing up is to help reduce taxes by donating good workable stuff. I think in the long run the benefit is greater than doing a garage sale, though I do have a few things to take to a garage sale the neighbor is going to fun one of these days. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: maeve Date: 01 May 08 - 04:11 PM And yes, SRS, the emotional burdens of my father's estate, things from my mother, everything in the children's room. The laundry without a washer. The truckloads of compost to move. Thousands of seeds to sow, plants to pot, weeds to dig, mulch to spread. Quite overwhelming. On the other hand, we received our license to sell the fruit trees and perennials we've been growing, and I sold two little pots of pink violets this afternoon. We'll have milk and a newspaper before dark! Bit by bit, corner by corner, row by row. |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 01 May 08 - 04:07 PM Yep, I've been feeling that a lot, ever since we moved here. This thread and you, esp. Maggie, have helped me get some of it started and some of it done. There's a part of my mind, a corner, which laughs like a gibbering idiot at the folly of believing I will ever get any of it done, let alone all of it. My goal is that my children NOT have to go through it all when I am gone. One other thing which has helped is making a Master List, long-term and short-term things I want to get done around here. I have already crossed off a bunch on one I made last Dec. Slowly getting some of the other things crossed off, like those shutters. Since my friend isn't coming to visit today through Sunday, MAYBE I'll get the rest of them done this weekend! Anyhow...one foot in front of the other, eh? OH, and maybe better glasses so I can focus more?**bg** |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Liz the Squeak Date: 01 May 08 - 03:55 PM "Do you ever hit a point where you simply have so many things crying out to be done at once that no direction is right and you are at a standstill?" Yes... so consequently, I still have no space in the dining room to do the waistcoats I must Must MUST finish in 3 weeks time, the room here emerges and submerges under a moving tide of paper - different paper each time, but still paper.... and I end up not doing anything. Ho hum. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: maire-aine Date: 01 May 08 - 02:15 PM Next week I plan to do some serious de-cluttering. I'm on vacation for the week, and I'm starting on what I laughingly call the "music room". More like the "clutter room" right now. I will report results at the end of the week. Wish me luck, Maryanne |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 May 08 - 12:40 PM Andrea, it sounds like you need to establish a starting point and work outward. I thought I had a lot to do here--sounds like you're dealing with a lot more real estate! Do you ever hit a point where you simply have so many things crying out to be done at once that no direction is right and you are at a standstill? The last couple of days have felt that way. The semester will end and it will get better, but some of these little accomplishments in the decluttering feel like the only progress made the whole day! Sometimes I think it is the result of running up against the emotions that are triggered by the stuff in the room. Issues with my mom come to the surface readily as I do this work. It all seems to boil down to things not used, left packed away, because they were so musty from her smoker's household, and recognition at the discomfort of rejecting the smell and trying to not reject the person. Anyone else encountering these bogeymen in the clutter? On another note, this morning the trash guys toted off the third load of the rotten fence slats removed from the back yard. There is still an ugly tangle of them resting against the fence, but this weekend I think I'll manage to finish piling them at the curb. I have a neighbor who will be out of town for a week, leaving this afternoon--I can pile some there also (he won't be putting trash at his curb) so I can spread it around a little. ;) I'm headed to a meeting at the office today so I'll see if I can round up another bag of donation stuff to take to the thrift store and rag recycle place nearby. The more things I can do in the same trip the better. This morning on the Diane Rehm show (NPR) it was pretty depressing to hear them talk about the strong possibility of $4 a gallon gas this year. $80 to completely fill up my pickup. It cost $20 to fill it when I first bought it 8 years ago. I think I'll take the dogs for a walk before I drive to work, see if a little exercise helps my mood. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: katlaughing Date: 30 Apr 08 - 03:58 PM {{{{Andrea}}}} You're doing fine, darlin'...give yourself some time and credit for what you've already done. AND, go enjoy that new little darlin'!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: mouldy Date: 30 Apr 08 - 02:24 PM I have a load of stuff in bags in the hallway, piled up for going to a boot fair in a week or so. I have got to get that lot shifted out so that when Ruth gets back from uni in a couple of weeks, she has somewhere to dump all her crap, as her old room is devoid of space since I moved her single bed out and put the spare double in. Her new one (the old spare) won't be ready till after I have been to New Zealand. It is stripped out and awaiting the attention of the electrician and decorator. At a guess it will be late June or early July before I get it done. So the back of the living room and the hallway will have to be called into play. I have also got a new tent stacked up in the hall. I'd put it in the shed, but at some point I have got to empty all that lot into the garage (also full of crap) while the shed is re-roofed, sometime over the summer. It's more of an outbuilding, and one of the roof timbers need some repair, so the contents have to be moved so that ladders can get in. Ian's stuff was mainly cleared out relatively soon after he died. Most of the stuff that was here (especially his clothing) I saw as surplus to his requirements, the rest got shipped to my daughter's from Russia, and we sat round and sorted it all there, and chose what items we wanted to keep. I still, however, have a pair of cross-country skis stacked up in the study... At least I offloaded his welder onto my son in law, after he helped me clear some of the stuff in the garage last year! Andrea - wishing that the clutter fairies would send me away and do it all for me so that I couldn't cling onto so much stuff! |
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Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering - part two From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Apr 08 - 03:38 PM Before and after. No longer clutter on my front porch, now a repaired and repainted little table (all it cost was the price of 6 carriage bolts with washers and nuts) to look great on my porch. A brightly colored plant needs to reside there. It gets sun in the morning, deep shade the rest of the day. So maybe something with colorful foliage rather than a bright flower. SRS |
